It has been over a year since the majority of workplaces transitioned to remote due to the global pandemic. Sure, the practice of remote work and at-home learning is not necessarily unchartered—most tech companies allow their employees to partially work from home when needed, and every kid dreamed of being ‘homeschooled’ after watching The Wild Thornberrys. Since remote working has become globally adopted, it has re-introduced old challenges in a new area. One of them is how to ensure that employees can learn and retain new important information effectively through remote training.

Our Key Tips for Effective Remote Training:

1. Accessibility

Since everyone does most of their work on a single computer, lost or misplaced files could become an issue. Materials and resources needed for remote training should be readily accessible on multiple devices such as smartphones and tablets. The training materials themselves should also be accessible —employees should be able to read and consume them in the quickest and most effective way possible. Sending a full unbroken paragraph in one text message would be an awful user experience. Make sure to carefully structure and break down the lessons for remote training into easily consumable texts.

2. Goal Setting / Result Tracking

Establish the goals and objectives needed to have a firm grasp of expected outcomes. It’s hard to keep track of a person’s progress during remote training. There are very limited ways to know whether they’re understanding the training materials or even going through them at all. The best way to track and evaluate results, however, is to simply check on them daily and ask them a few questions to ensure that they’ve understood the lessons. Of course, doing this minimally avoids disrupting their workflow.

3. Active Immersion

It’s hard to care or pay attention to something when it’s not enjoyable or interesting. This doesn’t mean that training materials have to do stand-up. Immersing people’s attention enough to keep them engaged during remote training can lead to a higher success rate. Aside from breaking materials down into consumable pieces as mentioned in the previous section, try to keep the subject as relatively close to their work as possible. Keep in mind to use easily understood examples. Getting someone’s attention during remote training is one challenge. Maintaining it in the given time is another.

Confirming the success of remote training presents difficulties. Remember, however, that this is new to both the teacher and the student. Developing this shared connection results in both sides learning and growing more. If you have more questions, Arist is a great way to start remote training.

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